1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to a displayed viewing area switching device, and more particularly, to a displayed viewing area switching device which can be activated by a radial sliding movement.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, switching devices have been widely used in turning on and off power supply to electric or electronic apparatuses. As one example, a seesaw switch has commonly been used, which is constructed to gain designated signals and electric operations by pressing the switch with alternating up-and-down or backward-and-forward movements, on the basis of a designated central axial line. The seesaw switch has commonly been employed in electric home appliances including microwave ovens, refrigerators, etc. Recently, the seesaw switch has also been used in portable computers.
These days computer systems generally available in commerce have adopted a WINDOWS-based operation system as the basic operating system. Likewise, portable computers have also adopted the WINDOWS-based operation system as the basic operating system. Application programs under the WINDOWS operating system typically display horizontal and vertical scroll bars on the bottom of a window (i.e., a display screen area) and/or in the right side of the window. When a part of a document is not visible on the monitor because the document is beyond the frame of the active window, the displayed scroll bar is manipulated so as to allow the invisible part to be displayed on the monitor. A seesaw switch can also be provided in the computer system as a scroll manipulator manipulating the displayed scroll bar.
With reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, a switching device using a seesaw switch configuration and manipulating the scroll bar on an active window in the portable computer will be described by way of example. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional portable computer system. As shown in this figure, the conventional portable computer system comprises a computer body 101 in which a multiplicity of hardware units including a central processing unit (CPU) are built, and a monitor 102 receiving picture signals from the computer body 101 and displaying them thereon.
The computer body 101 comprises a casing 103 defining an external appearance of the computer body 101, a number of hardware units including a motherboard on which the CPU and RAM and so on are mounted, and a keyboard 104 for inputting data. On the top of the casing 103 are disposed a touch pad 105 for moving a pointer on an active window, a pair of selection buttons 107 for selecting a position when the pointer is located, and a seesaw switch 110 provided between the pair of selection buttons 107, as a scroll bar manipulator manipulating the vertical scroll bar provided in the right side of the active window under a WINDOWS application program.
The switching device 110 provided in the conventional portable computer, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 3, comprises a switch support 120, a pair of button switches 130 separated from each other and disposed on the switch support 120, a manipulation lever 150 having a pair of pressing parts 155 corresponding to the button switches 130 and disposed, respectively, adjacent to tops of the button switches 130, a rotation supporting means 170 supporting the manipulation lever 150 in a rotatable manner along a designated central axial line, a housing cover 140 disposed between the pair of button switches 130 and the manipulation lever 150, and on which the manipulation lever 150 is seated with a pair of coil springs 161 disposed between the manipulation lever 150 and the housing cover 140, making the manipulation lever 150 recoverable to its original position after being pressed down toward the housing cover 140.
The switch support 120 is a panel-shaped PCB (printed circuit board) inside the casing 103 and supporting the button switches 130. The switch support 120 receives scroll signals from the button switches 130 and transmits them to a motherboard (not shown) of the portable computer 101. Each button switch 130 is a tact switch which is designed to electrically transmit pulse (control) signals in response to the manipulation lever 150 as pressed against the pair of button switches 130. If the manipulation lever 150 is pressed, the tact switch transmits scroll signals to manipulate the scroll bar on an active application program to the motherboard.
The manipulation lever 150 includes the pair of pressing parts 155 respectively corresponding to the button switches 130, a pair of bosses 157 provided on the real of the manipulation lever 150 to be inserted into corresponding engaging parts 143 of the housing cover 140 (to be described later). The pair of depressed parts 151 are depressed from the plane of the manipulation lever 150 so that the user can easily press the pressing parts 155. In particular, the pressing parts 155 are projected from the plane of the rear of the manipulation lever 150 toward the button switches 130, so that they can contact the respective button switches 130 if the depressed parts 151 are pressed down toward the button switches 130.
The boss 157 is projected from the center of the plane of the manipulation lever 150 along the lengthwise direction, so as to allow the manipulation lever 150 to detach in an easy manner from the housing cover 140 when in an engagement with the engaging parts 143 of the housing cover 140.
The rotation supporting means 170 comprises a lever support 171 projected in the center of the housing cover 140 and supporting the manipulation lever 150, and a torsion coil spring 175, the center of which is supported by the lever support 171 and both ends of which support the rear of the manipulation lever 150.
The housing cover 140 is provided integrally with the casing 103 adjacent to the top of the button switches 130, and comprises the pair of engaging parts 143 into which the respective bosses 157 of the manipulation lever 150 are inserted, and a pair of openings through which respectively the pair of button switches 130 are seated. The housing cover 140 is depressed from the plane of and along the edges of the housing cover 140, within which the manipulation lever 150 is situated. Each engaging part 143 comprises a penetrating hole provided on both side walls of the housing cover 140, with which the boss 157 is engaged, so as to engage the manipulation lever 150 as well as to assist in the rotation of the manipulation lever 150 along the designated central axial line.
Between the housing cover 140 and the manipulation lever 150 is provided a pair of coil springs 161. One end of the coil spring 161 contacts the top surface of the housing cover 140 and the other end thereof contacts the rear of the manipulation lever 150. When the manipulation lever 150 is pressed, the coil spring 150 is compressed, to thereby allow one of the pressing parts 155 and one of the button switches 130 to contact each other. Also, when the pressure given to the manipulation lever 150 is removed, the coil spring 161 is elastically recovered, to thereby allow the manipulation lever 150 to be returned to its original position. For this purpose, a guide part (not shown) for preventing an arbitrary movement of the coil spring 161 is projected on either side of the housing cover 140 or the manipulation lever 150.
Operating processes of the switching device 110 with the above-described configuration, to manipulate the scroll bar on an active application program in the portable computer 101 will be described. If the user presses one of the depress parts 151 of the manipulation lever 150 to move the scroll bar, the manipulation lever 150 rotates by centering around the rotation supporting means 170 and the bosses 157 (i.e., the manipulation level 150 rotates based upon a designated central axial line), to thereby compress the coil spring 161. Thus, one of the corresponding pressing parts 155 of the manipulation lever 150 is allowed to contact one of the corresponding button switches 130 to transmit scroll signals to the switch support 120. The scroll signals transmitted from the button switches 130 are transmitted to the motherboard through the switch support 120, to thereby allow the scroll bar to be moved. If the force pressed to the depressing parts 151 is removed, the coil spring 161 is elastically recovered to a vertical direction, to thereby allow the manipulation lever 150 to be returned to its original position.
A variety of computer-based games have recently been developed, which have gained user popularity. Among the computer-based games, in some cases the whole viewing areas of games cannot be displayed on the active window of the monitor, and thus, only a part of the whole areas are displayed. In this regard, there has been a need for a switching device promptly displaying the invisible (i.e., non-displaying) areas of the computer game and to manipulate, such as move, the displayed view area on the monitor in various manners.
However, as described above, the switching device 110 employed in the conventional portable computer is a seesaw switch constructed with the rotation supporting means 170 based on a designated central axial line. Further, the seesaw switch requires the pair of coil springs 161, etc., to configure a seesaw, which can be a complicated structure. Further, the seesaw switch can only manipulate one displayed scroll bar at a time, typically the displayed vertical scroll bar provided in the right side of an active window under a WINDOWS application program. Therefore, the conventional seesaw switch cannot move more than one displayed scroll bar, for example, the displayed horizontal and vertical scroll bars. Further, the conventional seesaw switch cannot quickly move the displayed viewing area and/or move the displayed viewing area in various manners while the user, for example, is playing a computer-based game whose whole viewing areas are not displayed on the monitor.